=== Lyrics Generated by Suno AI === Task ID: unknown_1773670582 Variant: 2 Title: Rust On My Shoes Status: complete Generated: 2026-03-16 14:16:22 ======================================== [Verse 1] Twenty years of ticking cinderblock time Name carved deep in a painted bunk spine Walked out squinting at a sky too bright Cardboard box with the rest of my life Held my breath at the halfway house gate Paper cup coffee Tasted like grace First thing they gave me was a city map And a list of jobs that would call me back [Chorus] I got rust on my shoes Ink on my hands Sweat on my collar Dirt in my plans Started where they said a man like me belongs Bagging what the dogs left on suburban lawns But every long day Every hard night I stacked one honest brick in a better life Yeah I stacked one honest brick in a better life [Verse 2] Picked up credits in fluorescent rooms Read old poets by a busted broom Professor said “You write like you’ve been gone” I laughed and said “I’ve just been wrong” Graduation cap was a borrowed joke Tassel tangled in my thrift-store coat Mama cried quiet in the second row Like a hymn she used to hum soft and low [Chorus] I got rust on my shoes Ink on my hands Sweat on my collar Dirt in my plans Started where they said a man like me belongs Bagging what the dogs left on suburban lawns But every long day Every hard night I stacked one honest brick in a better life Yeah I stacked one honest brick in a better life [Bridge] Shipyard winter cut through that thin blue jacket Steel rang out like a Sunday racket Hands split open on a frozen rail Clock kept winning Knuckles went pale Then you showed up with a thermos Steam Said my name like it wasn’t a crime scene Your laugh floated over that salt and smoke Hung in the air like a second chance note (oh) [Verse 3] Now there’s dishes in the sink Toys on the floor Two pairs of boots by a yellow front door I still wake up from the sirens in my head Count the ceiling cracks Reach across the bed You mumble “You’re home ” pull me back to now Kiss the worry right off my brow I don’t forget where the dark road winds But I keep it in the rearview Small this time [Chorus] I got rust on my shoes Ink on my hands Keys in a bowl Ring on a stand Started where they said a man like me belongs Bagging what the dogs left Singing quiet songs And every long day Every hard night I stacked one honest brick in a better life Yeah I stacked one honest brick in a better life